Snapshot Saturday

Wrestling is kinda sorta our life right now. My two oldest boys are newbie wrestlers this year and wow, it’s been a crash course in the sport for me. Brian wrestled through college, relishes the smell of the sweaty wrestling room {gag} and loves even more demonstrating moves like the whizzer and crossface on, you guessed it, me, to show the boys the right method {him} and the wrong method {me}. Apparently shrieking while doing a crossface is strictly prohibited in the sport. So sue me. I tend to shriek when someone is trying to tear my nose off.

I’ve learned a few things this wrestling season so far. I’d like to share them with you, if that’s ok:
1) When your kid is wresting, it’s best not to shout things like “Shove his face in the mat, son!” when everyone else around you is shouting productive things like “Half-nelson!” especially when your voice carries. Like mine.

2) I want to kiss the feet of every person who has organized one of the tournaments we have attended and judiciously decided that every wrestler, regardless of how high or low they place, will get a trophy or medal. My kids feel like Olympians.

3) For all that is good and righteous, please let someone else videotape the matches if you tend to shriek like me (told you), otherwise, you won’t be able to focus or hear a darned thing upon playback and your kids will be a bit annoyed since they are trying to see how big their muscles looked while they were wrestling.

4) Whatever you do, absolutely never tell your little wrestler he looks cute on the stand. Not ok. It’s tough. He looks tough not cute.

5) Don’t glare at the 1st place finisher and his parents even though the high school ref called a pin on your son when he clearly was.not.pinned. It’s a friendly competition, not life or death, even though your son, obviously, should have come in first.

As you can see, we are learning just so, so many valuable life lessons here. Can’t wait to see what the last few weeks of wrestling season brings (hopefully not ringworm or cauliflower ear)!

21 Responses to Snapshot Saturday

I find it incredibly intresting how we can become absorbed into something we had no clue about before. And probably could live without except that now we can´t. It´s all about life lessons, and sports can teach a lot. From now on, you have the toughest kids! jaja

Girl, I totally understand. We started wrestling last year and it was eyes wide open to this whole insane world of wrestling! My husband had never even wrestled, so we jumped in blind. My son had to wrestle a girl in many meets, so we had to get past the “yes, you’re not supposed to hurt girls, but in this case, PIN HER!” I do love being a sports mom and having that opportunity to encourage my kids as they try new things. Good luck to your boys!

We started wrestling a few years back. My oldest is now in junior high and I have been banned from attending anything wrestling related. Though he does invite me to track events in the spring (which apparently just started here though we are supposed to get 10 inches of snow). Have fun with your boys!

So I take it-that some of these lessons can be applied to …let’s say your first grade daughter’s basketball game? I was screaming and hollering and trying oh so hard to be a sportsman like mommy-it is super tough when you are also competitive and CLEARLY your daughter is being held by her opponent and can’t move! But then your daughter receives the Christian character award on her team because she stopped guarding the girl to pick up her opponents headband that fell off. Oh we can be so humbled by our kids generous hearts.

Clearly, he was robbed. Robbed!
There is a pretty intense movement afoot to ensure that they do not drop wrestling as an Olympic sport (something they are considering), and I recently learned that a disproportionate number of past U.S. presidents were (you guessed it) … wrestlers! It teaches you how to be humiliated (or robbed), and come back. How to fight and how to be scrappy. Since there is also a disproportionate showing of left-handed people among past (and present!) U.S. presidents, if one of your boys is left-handed, clearly he’s going to be president. You heard it here first. From me.

hahahahahahaha!!! I love this! My husband was also huge into wrestling and plans to have our son start next year… these tips are good for me to know, since I have never attended a wrestling match before!

I get it. Just insert “gymnastics” wherever you see wrestling, and welcome to my life. Both boys started competing this year, and it’s all we do now. And amen to the participation medals and trophies!!

Mel, My son is in 12th grade and just took 5th in the State of Delaware individual championships. I am the mom that cooks for the team when we have team dinners and I always bring muffins to the tournements. Thank you for your yummy blog!

Oh, I can so relate! My son had his last tourney of the season on Saturday, and lost all three matches – one due to a pin that was not a pin. He loves sports of all kinds, so it’s hard not to get caught up in the moment. I’ve learned how wrestling works over the last several years (I had no clue about any of it before he started in the sport!). But, I refuse to get as cut-throat as some of the mat-side parents do…he’s only in 4th grade, after all, and there is plenty of time for that later.

My son wrestled when he was younger and it is hard for a mom to watch! He plays high school football and is the catcher on the baseball team and for some reason I have an easier time watching that, even though he seems to take more abuse.

They are so adorab….um, tough! Their proud faces are priceless. It does become your life. I have three playing baseball this year. I’m going to look like a 95 year old piece of leather after that much sun.